


Malevolence

by nobodyzhuman



Category: Original Work
Genre: Demon, Drama, Gen, Magic, Private Investigators, Urban Fantasy, Violence, Witch - Freeform, vampire
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-09
Updated: 2019-02-04
Packaged: 2019-06-24 13:32:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 17,028
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15631683
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nobodyzhuman/pseuds/nobodyzhuman
Summary: When private investigator Alexandria ‘Alex’ Mathis takes on a new case, she finds the most intriguing  thing about it to be the vampire that hired her.Instead, she finds herself suddenly immersed in an ongoing police investigation, meddling with a dark coven, and facing off against demons.In over her head, she finds she might have to rely on the help of some interesting new friends in order to make it out alive.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This story is complete. It has been edited and even as cover art. All that is left is to find an agent and publish. Wish me luck :) I'm only posting the first few chapters in hopes of gain attention and getting people interested..
> 
> Readers,   
> I have recently had my very one book, Malevolence professionally edited, and the cover art done. (which I love!). I still have a few things to do before I can self-publish, but I am close. (You guys should check out the first 6 chapters, posted on here.) I also have a second book, Rescued that is completely finished, (first 6 chapters are also on here.) but it still needs editing, (have to save up the money).   
> As a fanfiction writer, I have a good number of followers and loyal readers. I’m hoping that some of you might be interested in my original works as well. I love writing and it would be a dream come true to turn this hobby into a career.   
> This message is a way of getting your attention and pointing you guys to my Website, Twitter, Instagram, and Tumblr. Where you can follow me, for updates, sneak peeks, and ask questions if you have any. Hopefully this will work, and I can gain a fan base for my original stories. 
> 
> Website: https://www.cahumanbooks.com/  
> Twitter: @ca_human  
> Tumblr: Nobodyzhuman  
> Instagram: ca.human

**Chapter 1**

_I remember my first battle against the vampires. The strength and speed with which they fought. I was shocked. My first clear thought was, “How can we hope to defeat something that moves like that?”_

_-Entry from Tales from the Vermiculo War_

 

I slammed down my office phone, barely managing to get it in the right place. The client was refusing to pay for my services. I had spent the better part of the week following her worthless husband, whom she was positive was cheating. Turns out she was right, but instead of it being the beautiful blonde that worked with him it was his young male assistant.

Now she refuses to pay, saying that her husband would never have sex with a man, despite the proof of the pictures I had taken. She’s accusing me of doctoring the photos. When she started screaming about suing me, I hung up on her.

Five years of doing this, three being on my own, and I still don’t understand people. They come in and hire me because they have suspicions, and then when I give them all the proof they wanted, they somehow still find a way to believe it was a mistake or that it never happened.

I had owned my own private investigation business for three years. I had my own private office, that cost me an outrages amount of rent each mouth, and I was struggling. I could blame it on me still being somewhat new at the job, but the truth was people have a hard time taking a female investigator seriously. I sighed as I looked over at the stack of bills on my desk. I had been looking forward to the check from this case—the woman had originally offered to pay me double and I needed the money.

It had been a long night, and all I really wanted to do was go home, shower and take a nap, but a quick look at my clock told me I didn’t have enough time. I had about an hour before my next appointment. If I stayed sitting in my chair I could probably doze off until someone knocked, but then I would probably look worse than I did now. With an annoyed huff I looked around my office; it was a mess.

I had spent the last few days running in and out of the office only staying long enough to return calls and eat. Glancing at the time again, I sighed heavily and decided I might as well take a moment to clean the place up. It did not take long before my office looked reasonable, though the smell of day--old take-out--hung in the air. I opened the small window behind my desk. Not much else I could do.

At exactly three o’clock, there was a knock at my door.

“Well, at least he’s punctual,” I mumbled.

As I opened the door, I yelped recognizing him immediately. I quickly brought my hand to my mouth to stop myself from making any more embarrassing sounds. The man standing outside let out a small laugh and smiled. From the look on his face my reaction wasn’t anything new to him.

The air around him buzzed, causing a tingle at the base of my neck; instincts telling me he was dangerous. Fortunately, I had been warned beforehand that my potential client was a vampire, otherwise the sensation would have caught me off guard. Trying to ignore the feeling. I took a better look at him.

This was Prince Ash, son of the current King Marcus. Well, _a_ current King, vampire politics confuse me, but rumor was there were five Kings or Queens each keeping to their own territories. Supposedly they were five of the most power vampires alive, and no one in their right mind messed with them.

            When the call came in, I was told I would be meeting with an important vampire and that I needed to be discreet. I had run different people through my head over the last couple days, trying to guess at which it was. I had even guessed it might be a royal But not the one standing before me. I had imagined one of the cousins; someone that held power but was more of a name. The cousins were famous for using their name and place to get what they wanted, and also for getting into trouble. Rumor was they wanted attention because they would never be more than what they were. None of them would ever inherit a throne.

The man in front of me cleared his throat. I had been lost in thought and forgot to invite him in. I smiled and stepped back, making room for him to move past me and into my office. Once he was in, I pushed my office door closed and gestured to the chairs in front of my desk.

I watched him as he walked in—he stood tall, probably about six feet, making him a foot taller than me, and walked with a grace that I couldn’t even dream of being able to pull off.

He was also dressed in a way that made you want to look at him. He had dark shoulder length hair that he left loose and let hang along his shoulders and face. I couldn’t tell if it was dark brown or black, not that it mattered. And he was dressed to impress; fitted dark jeans and a grey button-up shirt. I could tell from the way the clothes fit him, they were expensive and custom tailored. The shirt even matched his eyes. I could tell he had planned the outfit perfectly to make an impression. The last thing he wore was a fade black leather jacket, left unzipped.

“Please sit.” I said, walking behind him, then around him to my desk. While he removed his jacket and sat down, I had a moment of hesitation. Was there some kind of formal way I was supposed to greet him or any politically correct actions I was supposed to do? Shrugging, I sat down. I wasn’t a vampire, and this wasn’t a formal meeting, so he shouldn’t expect any of that from me.

Extending my hand over my desk, I introduced myself, “I’m Alexandria.”            His face broke out into a grin, and he took my hand in his.

“Ash,” he said. I noticed when he smiled, his grey eyes lightened in color. He stated talking the second we were both seated.

“I need help, and I cannot go through the normal channels. I need this to stay quiet.” He met my eyes, and I nodded. I knew that’s why people really came to PI’s. They were less likely to spread rumors around. It would be bad for business.

He gave a small and appreciative smile. “Just about a week ago, I went to a supernatural club. It is not something I do regularly, but I wanted to relax and enjoy myself. So, I arranged to lose my guards and met a couple friends there.” He sighed and continued. “I just wanted a normal night, no politics or people pleasing. I had been drinking when I met a young man. He was charming, and he appeared to have no knowledge of who I was. We had a fun night of drinking and dancing and when it was time to go, I brought him to a hotel room.

Ash stopped and looked at me. “I should have expected something. He was too charming, too eager, but I had been drinking. And I’ve been lonely. Anyways, the next morning, I woke up alone and discovered the necklace was gone.”

Again, he stopped talking and watched me. There was a childish part of me that wanted to roll my eyes. I had been thrilled when I heard a royal wanted to hire me for a job. Now not so much. It turned into a missing item kind of job instead of something with more a little action. I was sick of looking for missing people and watching cheating husbands.

Being a witch, my business catered to both humans and non-humans alike. It was easy for me to interact with both worlds. Unsuspecting humans never saw me as anything other than human and supernaturals could feel my power and understood I was one of them.  Not that the two groups were as different as they thought. A lot of their everyday problems tended to be similar, especially the kind that brought them to me: a runaway child, missing lover, or lost items. I’d been a Private Investigator for years and my jobs stayed basically identical. Leaving me feel like I was stuck in the same boring routine. Very few of my cases ever needed the use of magic. But with or without magic, I almost always find what I’m looking for.

I heard a throat clear, and I realized I had zoned out and gotten lost in my own thoughts again.

“Sorry,” I said. “Please continue.” The look he gave me told me that may have regretted coming to me. I looked at how I was sitting and could understand why. I was sitting back in my chair with my feet on my desk, looking like I was ignoring him. Not very professional. I should probably be sitting, looking engrossed in what he was saying, with a notebook and writing something down. But so far, he hadn’t giving me anything that I felt needed to be on paper. Ignoring how unprofessional I appeared, I waved my hand for him to continue.

His eyes roamed over me again and pointedly looked at my feet, trying to make a point. I ignored him. We stared at each other for a moment, and he finally sighed and continued his story.

“This necklace is a family heirloom,” he said. “I’m supposed to keep it with me at all times. No idea why. But I need it back, and soon. If my father finds out that not only have, I been ditching his men, but that I lost that necklace…” He took a deep breath and seemed to be looking for the right words. “Well, let’s just say it wouldn’t be fun. I have tried looking for the man that stole it myself, but people know my face and it makes it hard to be discreet.”

I raised an eyebrow, curious as to what he was implying. _Would his father punish him?_ wondered.  Deciding not to ask, I took my feet off my desk and moved so I could use my desk properly.

“Tell me about the man. His name, hair, height, build, and species?” I asked, grabbing my notebook pulling it in front of me. I lifted my eyes to look at him, giving him the go-ahead. I was actually ready to go and write something down this time.

 “He said his name was Steven, Blonde hair, shoulder-length, shorter than me but only by an inch or two. Slim and not too skinny, but probably doesn’t do too much weight lifting. As for species I’m not sure, I know he wasn’t vampire. He would never have approached me if he was, but I don’t think he just an oblivious human. This was in a supernatural bar after all. because he was in a demon bar.” He continued, and I wrote down the details as he spoke. It was vague and general, but I was already sure that Steven was not this guy’s real name. I would have to see if the club had cameras.

“Okay. Now… the necklace? Was it magic? Describe it for me,” I asked without looking up from my notes.

“A pendant on a white gold chain. The chain itself is long with engravings on it. The pendant is an emerald that hangs at the bottom, it’s about the size of a fifty-cent piece. All together it hangs at chest level. The chain is also enchanted to be unbreakable and so that only I can remove it.  I lifted my head and cocked it to the side while looking at him.

“Yes, I took it off. It’s not exactly something comfortable to wear when having sex,” He said, annoyed.  


 I heard the frustration in his voice and couldn’t help but chuckle. “No, I guess it wouldn’t be. What about the emerald itself? Any magic or enchantments?”

“Not that I know of. I have never felt anything from it and no one has ever mentioned anything about it being magical. I really don’t know why it’s important, but I do know my father will not be pleased if he finds out I lost it. _Especially_ during a one-night stand.”

I studied him for a second. He seemed annoyed and had a slight worried look in his eye. From listening to him I could tell he couldn’t care less about the necklace. It was his father that had him worried, and from the reputation of the King, I could totally understand that. 

“Okay, final question. Which club where you at?”

“Malevolence,” he stated and started fidgeting. My head snapped up so fast I almost gave myself whiplash.

 “The demon club?” I asked. Hoping I had heard him wrong. I so didn’t want to deal with any demons.

He sighed. “Yeah. It’s one of the only clubs I can go to and not be treated like a prince.”

“No shit” spurt from my mouth before I had even realized I thought it. This time he raised an eyebrow and smiled.

I told him that he would have to pay the standard five hundred a day plus expenses and walked him out.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

_I had never encountered a witch before. I had always believed my own species to be powerful, even unstoppable. But in my first battle against the witches, I witnessed a single one bring down a building with such little effort. We had underestimated our enemies._

_-Entry from Tales from the Vermiculo War_

After Ash left, I read over my notes to make sure I had memorized the little information I had written down. I got up, grabbed my coat and went to leave. As I stepped out of my office building, I shuddered-- the sky was overcast, and I could smell that rain was on the way. It looked like it could start pouring anytime. While it was still early afternoon, there was a chill in the air showing winter was around the corner. I walked into the tiny parking lot behind my building where my truck was the only vehicle parked. It was a 1967 Ford—a small, classic black truck. Not in the greatest shape, but it had been a gift a few years ago, nothing special but it was dependable and got me where I needed to go.

As I unlocked my car door, a prickling sensation ran down my neck and I turned around. I felt like I was being watched, but as I looked over the area, I couldn’t see anything or anyone out of the ordinary. Shaking it off, I unlocked and opened the door.

I started the engine and fiddled with the heater, even though it wasn’t cold enough yet to need it. But with it getting colder I wanted to make sure it worked. So, with the truck running and the heater hopefully kicking on any second, I pulled out of the parking lot.

As I made my way to Malevolence, I went over what I knew about demons. I had never met a full-blooded demon before and could have gone happily living the rest of my life without ever doing so. I knew they could be tricky and that they liked to make deals. Almost always there was a human or witch that was dumb enough to get entangled with demons only to end up owned in one way or another. I could never understand why people took the risks of making deals. Rationally I knew it was because of greed. Demons were capable of powerful magic and could deliver any number of things to humans, the biggest power. Whether it was of the magical variety or the basic human kind, notoriety and money. But the idea of selling myself, of becoming owned or magical bound to a demon, didn’t seem worth it.

I also knew there were different types of demons. I could only name a handful of different types, Incubus, Succubus, Imps, Pyro, and Warrior. Those being the most popular amongst the stories I heard growing up. Each had its own abilities or powers, which meant that knowing what type of demon one was dealing at least a step in the right direction for me because it gave me an idea of what it was capable of.

The hierarchy of demons was a little more confusing. I knew the higher demons had the ability to appear human, they came off less terrifying to humans. Which was dumb, because they were the most power. They held immense power not only over humans but the demons that ranked below them. Next were the midway demons, these could pass for human with effort but tended to hold some kind of creature like appearance. While they weren’t as powerful as the higher up one, but they still were powerful. At the bottom were lower demons. These demons were completely animal. They held power sure, but not the same kind as the others. They were the attack dogs of the demon world, used simply for hunting and killing.

I groaned. As much as I knew, there was more I didn’t. I had no idea how to summon one or tell their kind. All I had was a little knowledge I hoped would be useful Hopefully asking to see their cameras would be simple enough that I could get in and get out. Fast.

I pulled into the empty parking lot and looked at truck’s clock: 4:37pm. I figured at least the employees would be here. I had heard rumors about the people that hung out here—I didn’t want to be around when they started to show up. As I turned my truck off, I noticed that the heater had never kicked on. “Great. Another thing I need to have fixed,” I mumbled, glaring at my dashboard.

Getting out of my truck, I pushed my senses out, rolling my magic over the parking lot and toward the club, hoping to get a feel for the power in the area and to see if there were any active wards. As I walked, I started to get a feel of the building—a massive amount of magic came from it. Ignoring that, I focused on making out if anyone was inside. I pushed a little more magic and the wards surrounding the place rewarded me with what felt like a slap in the face.

“Ouch.” I mumbled and pulled my power back. Well at least I knew someone was in there. Otherwise the wards would have just pushed back at me, not attacked.

I reached the front door and debated going back to the car. Whoever had controlled the wards didn’t seem friendly. But I really needed the money and I knew the Prince would be good for it, unlike my last deadbeat client. So, I knocked.

My hand was barely off the door when it was ripped open. The woman that stood ahead of me was gorgeous. And pissed.

“What?” she practically screamed.

“Hello, my name is Alex.” I stopped a took a breath, calming my nerves. “I was hoping to speak to someone about looking at your camera footage from a week ago. I have a client who claims to have lost something and I’m trying to track it down.” Something about her was off. My skin felt warm and I was twitchy. It made me nervous and I started to shuffle my feet a little bit.

She stepped closer to me. The anger in her face had gone, and she seemed happy. She even smiled at me. It was so unsettling I felt my stomach drop.

“Oh, well I’m not in charge of those, sweetie,” she said cheerfully. “Why don’t you come in and let’s see if we can find Ty.” She reached her hand out and grabbed my arm. The warmth I felt before intensified and my head got a little hazy.

“Shit!” I ripped my arm away from her and threw small wall of magic in between us.

“A succubus?” I asked, even though I sure that was what she was. She didn’t move but did start laughing.

“I’m surprised! Most people don’t realize I have them charmed until it’s too late, little witch. You shouldn’t be here. Your kind doesn’t last very long.” She stopped talking and started walking back to the door.

 “Wait!” I yelled and stumbled toward her, my wall still holding between us.

“Look, I’m not here for any drama or to cause problems. I was hired to find someone. That’s it. I just need to look at your cameras, so I can get a picture of the guy.” She had stopped walking when I shouted at her and actually listened to me. When I stopped talking, she turned around and stared at me. Her eyes ran up and down, looking me over.

 _Probably trying to see if I’m a threat,_ I thought.

“Fine. But only because I’m in a good mood,” she said, rolling her eyes.” Come along and drop your stupid wall, child. It will draw more attention than you want.” She then opened the door and walked in.

 _Good mood, my ass,_ I thought.

I didn’t want to let the wall down, but I needed the pictures. “Fuck,” I said, and let my wall fall and followed her inside.

The club seemed normal enough. There were some tables, chairs, a few couches against the far wall, and two bars—one on either side of the large space. The succubus led me to the back of the club and up a flight of stairs. When we reached the top, she looked back at me, knocked on the closest door, and without another word, started to walk around me and back to the first floor.

“Wait, you’re not coming in?” I called down to her. She didn’t even turn around and just answered me as she walked away.

“Nope. Waking Tyler up is never smart,” she said. “And I like my head right where it is.” I could hear the smile in her voice.

 _Bitch_ , I thought as I watched her go down the stairs.

I hadn’t heard the door open, but when I turned back around there was a shirtless man leaning against the door, looking at me with a curious look on his face. He didn’t look angry. Maybe a little sleepy, but not angry. He didn’t seem the type that woman described him as.

 _Maybe she was just messing with me_ , I thought, and looked him over as I started talking. My eyes traveled up to meet his gaze.

“Hi, umm, the lady that let me in said maybe you could help me find some camera footage from a week ago?” I asked, but then felt heat flood my face from embarrassment, _Oh yeah Alex you’re doing great. You couldn’t even remember to get her name._

He smiled at me and responded. “And what do you need it for?”

He was attractive, that was for sure.  The man had a great body, and a smile that could charm the pants off anyone. At first, I thought he might be an Incubus, but while I found him attractive, there wasn’t any pull behind it.

“I’m looking for someone.” I said, returning his smile with one of my own.

“Well, that’s a vague answer,” he said while tilting his head and looking at me before continuing. I chuckled and reached into my coat, pulling out my identification. I held it out towards him, he took it while raising a brow at me.

“Oh.” He said after reading it. When he handed it back to me, he gave me another look over like the new information made him see me a little differently.

Then he shrugged. “I guess since Emelia showed you in, I’m supposed to show you.”

He pushed away from the wall and entered the room. As I followed him, he reached a desk with three different computer monitors on it.

“Day?” he asked without looking at me, focused on the computer screens.

“Last Friday,” I replied while watching as he searched through the files and pulled up a folder with last Friday’s date on it. He never once looked at me while he set the videos across all three screens.

“Time?”

“Between 9:00 p.m. and midnight.”

This time he swung around in the chair and looked at me. “Couldn’t you narrow it down some?” He lifted his gaze to mine and raised an eyebrow. “That’s a lot of footage and I would really like to sleep some before we open.” He didn’t sound angry—just annoyed. I had made up my mind about Emelia messing with me. This Ty seemed nice enough. 

“I was told that was the time he was here. All I know is that my client left with somebody sometime around midnight. We can start there and work our way back.” He rolled his eyes while turning his body back to the monitors and started clicking around again. After several minutes of awkward silence, he pushed his chair back and stood up.

“Here’s the footage from the front door, from about 11:30 to twenty after midnight. Go through it and see if you can find whoever. I’ll be in the shower.” He started to walk away and stopped at the door to look at me.

“Don’t look at anything else,” he casually threatened me. “Trust me. I will know. Oh, and don’t leave. When you’re done, I will walk you out.” With that, he was gone.

I sat down and started sifting through the footage. After about fifteen minutes I realized why he was annoyed at the timeline I gave him. This place was packed, people coming and going constantly, and it was a pain to try and pick out anyone specific.

After about a half hour I wanted to break the computer. I wasn’t having any luck and I had watched all the footage. So, I rewound it and started over. At some point I heard Tyler come back in, but he didn’t say anything, so I ignored him and kept looking.

A little while later, I felt him stand behind me. I sighed and turned around to looked up at him. He was dressed in simple blue jeans and a loose black t-shirt with Malevolence written in red along the left side.

“No luck?” he asked.

“Nope,” I said, a bit dejected. “Umm… is there any other exit? Maybe a back door they could have gone out?” I was grasping at anything to help.

“There is, but not many people use it.” He grabbed the chair, pulled me away from the computer, and started going through his files again.

“Could have just asked me to move,” I mumbled. 

He looked over his shoulder at me and gave me that damn smile. “But where is the fun in that?”

 _Fucking flirt,_ I thought.

I rolled my eyes and stood up, moving around the room to stretch my legs. It looked like a basic office, except there was a large window that overlooked the club. A desk sat against a side wall, facing away from the window, which I thought was a little weird. Under the window and next to it a small fridge was a leather couch, and against the last wall were some filing cabinets and bookshelves. The bookshelves held mostly knick-knacks and just a handful of books. I guessed the small door to the side probably led to a small bedroom, judging by his sleepy look when he let me in.

I looked back toward the computer and asked, “Hey, is there a bathroom I can use?”  I saw him shrug his shoulders, raise his hand and point to the room I had guessed was a bedroom.

“Don’t touch anything other than the bathroom,” he said. I rolled my eyes and made my way to the door. The moment I opened it, I knew I was right—it was a small bedroom with another door to the side. Entering, I found a tiny bathroom; just a sink and toilet, which explained why he showered somewhere else. After using the bathroom and washing up, I went to open the door. My stomach growled—I was getting hungry, and I really wanted something to drink.

When I opened the door, I jumped back. Tyler had been standing inside his room, waiting. He turned toward me, and a wide smile appeared across his attractive face while he looked me over again. 

“Really? You just had to be standing all creepy in the middle of the room?” I shouted at him. While glaring, my hands found their way into my hair, my nerves on edge from his sudden appearance.

He laughed. “Come on. I have the rest of the footage up.” 

I mumbled a “whatever” under my breath and went back to the computer.

“So, same time frame as before, but for the back door. You’re lucky. There’s only a handful of people that use it, so you should be done quickly.” He backed away from the computer and turned to lie on the couch. As he lay back against the arm of the couch, he folded his arms behind his head, propping up slightly to watch me. I rolled my eyes and turned away from him. 

Sitting down again, I started the video. It only took me about five minutes of fast forwarding to find Ash and his thieving one-night stand leaving the club.

“Finally!” I exclaimed. I turned around when I heard movement behind me and looked at him. He was relaxed on the couch, still watching me.

“Got a printer?” I asked, smiling wide at him, I couldn’t contain my happiness on finally finding Ash and his date after the annoyingly long search. Tyler raised an eyebrow at me, unfolding his arms from behind his head to sit up. I watched as he twisted to place both his feet to the floor and stood up.

“Yeah, fine. Print it and I’ll go get it,” he said already walking toward the door.

I wanted to say _we_ could go get it, but I didn’t want to seem like I was hiding anything. I turned around and printed a couple different angles from the video, making sure to zoom in on the thief’s face and not the Prince’s. 

It only took Tyler a couple minutes to come back with the pictures. After he handed them to me, he made his way toward the door. “Well, let’s get you out of here,” he said, beckoning me to follow.

He opened the front door for me, and I was surprised to see the sun almost completely gone. _Damn, I was in there longer than I had wanted._

“Thank you for helping,” I said and quickly started walking to my truck.

As I unlocked the door and got ready to open it, I felt a hand on my shoulder. My muscles tensed, and without hesitation, I immediately threw the person off me with enough magic to make it hurt. I turned on my heel to face my attacker, fists curled at my sides, prepared to defend myself. Surprise spread across my face at seeing Tyler rising from the ground, but it was quickly replaced by a frown and a glare.

 “Seriously, dude, you couldn’t make some damn noise?” I yelled. I took a breath and tried to slow my heart down.

“Sorry,” he said, but didn’t really sound it. “Trust me, if I had known you could hit like that, I would have whistled the whole way!” He said with a smirk, I couldn’t contain the laugh that escaped my lips.

“So, I wasn’t going to say anything, but I’m curious. You’re looking for Donovan, Why?” he continued.

“You know him?” I asked in surprise. At least it was a good surprise. I finally had a name.

“Yeah, he’s a human. He yearns to be claimed by a demon in order to harness magic. He spends almost every weekend here sucking up to anyone who will let him.” He huffed out a small laugh, turning his head to the side as if in thought. “Actually, I’m surprised he hasn’t been killed yet, always pushing his luck. Is that what you’re doing? Tracking him down because he finally went too far with someone?”

He moved closer to me. Too close for my comfort.  I took a step back, hitting my open truck door. I couldn’t make out the expression on his face. My eyes searched his for a hint of what he was thinking but found nothing.

I couldn’t tell if he was hoping I was here, so someone could kill this Donovan guy, or if he was going to stop me.

Watching his face carefully, I answered. “I am tracking him down, but not for the reason you think. He stole something, and someone wants it back. That’s it. I don’t think my client cares one way or another if anything happens to Donovan.”

And then the smile was back on Tyler’s face. He moved back a little, holding his hands up in a surrender gesture. The change of his attitude was unsettling.

“Easy, there. Just checking,” he said, taking a step backward. “I may not like the idiot, but there are others who seem to enjoy him, and I don’t think you would want them coming after you.”

I started to breathe a little easier once we had some distance. My hands slid to my hips and I looked at him while asking, “Any chance you can tell me where he lives?”

His ensuing expression was too hilarious for me not to let out a small laugh.

“I tell you he wants to be claimed, has demons that enjoy him, and you still want to go see him?” he said. “Are you stupid?” For the first time since I met him, he sounded angry. I leaned back. It seemed Tyler was good at catching me off guard.

In surprise, I pulled some power to the surface in case I needed it. He must have felt it—he put his hands in front of him as if to say “peace.”

 “Easy there, little witch. I mean no harm,” he said with a grin, “I’m trying to keep you alive. Getting involved with someone like him isn’t smart.” He shook his head while staring at me.

It was my turn to be angry. “One, don’t call me little witch. And two, all I want is the necklace he stole.” I realized I had raised my voice and took a breath to calm down before speaking again. “Look, I’m not getting mixed up with him. Once you tell me where he is, I’m gonna find him and ask for it back. If he says no, then I will take it by force. “

Tyler gave me a look, like he thought, “Yep, she’s stupid.”  
  
“And if he has sold it already?” He let his hands fall back down to his sides.

“Then I go back to my client, tell him, and see if I can track down whoever bought it.” I was starting to get a headache from the mix of holding my power so close to the surface without using it and being hungry.

“Fine. I’ll tell you where he lives, but you shouldn’t go alone.”

I wanted to laugh. Donovan was human. I wasn’t worried about him.

“I’m a big girl, thank you. I can look after myself.”

He growled, and I could see his eyes darken to a deep purple. I sucked in a sharp breath.

  
_Holy shit_ , I thought. _He’s was a Warrior demon._ Now I know why Emelia didn’t want to piss him off.

“Witches, they never listen. I’ll give you the address but if you die, I will not feel guilty.” He growled out. Those were the words that came out, but his tone said otherwise.

He told me, and I left with the address in hand. I started driving away and let myself breathe again. Warrior demons were powerful, feared for their strength in both magic and hand-to-hand. Said to be amazing fighters, the myths and legends said that just one could change the course of a battle.

I decided to head back to my office to make some food, and then call Ash to let him know what was going on.

 


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

_My Dear,_

_I am torn. My feelings for you grow each time I see you. But your husband has been a friend of mine since I was a child. I do not know why I am drawn to you, but I feel how wrong it is. Every time we are near, I feel my heart ache for you. Though my feelings grow, each time I speak to him, so does my shame. This is not right._

_D._

_-Letter to unnamed lover (1500)_

As I approached my office, I saw a note taped to the door.

 _Strange,_ I thought as I pulled it off and entered my office. Looking over at my kitchenette, then back at the note in my hand, I tossed the paper on to my desk. Food definitely seemed more appealing.

I hadn’t gone shopping—mostly because I was low on money, and a little because I hate shopping. I opened the fridge and cringed. It was empty but for some condiments, a couple bottles of water, and a few sodas. I grabbed a water and slammed the door. 

“Damn it. Looks like pizza.” I sighed and sat down at my desk.

After checking to make sure I had some money, I ordered a large pizza. Hanging up, I searched my desk for where I had written Ash’s number. Finding it, I dialed and waited for him to pick up.

It took several rings before he answered.

“Hello?” He sounded a little confused. My guess was he hadn’t bother to save my number.

“Hey, it’s Alex. I figured I would call and give you an update.”

“Did you find him?” he asked, his voice getting excited.

“Not yet, but I have an address. I’m going to head over in about an hour. Hopefully he still has it and hasn’t sold it or something, “I answered.

“You think he would sell it?” His excitement had turned to dread.

“Why else would he steal it?” I questioned.

“I figured he wanted it as a trophy to show off to friends about his night with me.”

“Oh, well I guess that could be it, but I’m thinking it was for the money.” I leaned back and relaxed. “That’s why _I_ would steal a giant emerald.”

He snorted. “That makes sense. Are you at your office?” 

“Yes…?” I asked, already having a feeling of where this was going.

“I want to come with you.”

His voice had a bit of authority, something I’m sure he was comfortable using so people gave him what he wanted.

“And if I said that was a bad idea?”

“I would say, oh well, and I’ll be at your office in about fifteen minutes.” And then there was silence.

“Asshole.” I put the phone down.

I picked up my water and took a few drinks before leaning back and closing my eyes. I still had a headache from earlier and my irritation at the Prince had made it worse.

I must have dozed off because I was suddenly ripped awake by a knock at the door. When I’d jerked awake, I knocked over my water.

Groaning “It’s open!” I stood up and grabbed a towel. I heard the door open and close and then footsteps coming towards me.

“You okay?” Ash asked.

“Fine. I fell asleep,” I answered, annoyed. “You woke me up and I knocked the stupid bottle off the desk.”

I finished cleaning up the water and threw the towel toward my sink and turned my attention to Ash.

“So why do you want to come with me? And please tell me you aren’t going to something stupid,” I asked as I sat back down at my desk.

“I figured I would get into his place easier than you,” he said, sitting down in the same chair he had been in only hours before.

 “Uh huh. Sure. Look, I don’t really care what you do to the guy, but I was warned he plays with demons and some might get a little mad if something happens to him. Just—” I was cut off by the doorbell.

I grabbed my wallet and headed for the door. I paid the pizza guy and headed back to the desk. I didn’t even wait until I sat down before I opened the box and picked up a piece. Sitting, I held the box toward Ash and offered some.

He smiled and took a piece. “I have no intention of hurting him.”

I still didn’t believe him, but I figured I’d warned him so whatever happened was on him. Plus, he seemed capable of taking care of himself.

We didn’t talk much while eating. I placed the leftovers in the fridge and decided it was time to go. I was a little shocked, though, that he never rushed me or hinted that I was taking too long.

Outside of my office, Ash took one look at my truck and said we were taking his car. I’m not a car person, so I didn’t know the model, but it was shiny, black, and looked fast. It also appeared to cost more than my apartment, office, and truck together. Sitting in the leather seats, I was scared to move—I didn’t want to scuff any of the leather or leave dirt anywhere. My entire body was tense, and I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye, never budging an inch.

I could see him smile has he drove, and I felt like he could my mind. It took all my self-control not to stick my tongue out at him. I reached into my pocket and handed him the address Tyler gave me.

The drive was only a few miles from my office. It was an apartment building, one of the more upscale ones. Way too much money for me to even think about living in. I look down at my clothes, black boots that went about half up to my calves, jeans and a dirty black t-shirt.

 _Oh yeah, they are so letting me in,_ my mind said sarcastically.

I felt Ash put his hand on my shoulder and give me a slight push. “You know you can go first, right?” I asked, trying to shake out of his grip.

“Yes, but I’m paying you to,” he said playfully.

I opened my mouth to smart off and closed it again. I sighed. The asshole was right—I _was_ being paid. So, I quit stalling and walked inside the building.

There was a small counter in the middle of the room, and behind it sat a young human girl, whose smile disappeared when she saw me. Sighing, I walked right past her to the elevator. I could feel Ash right behind me. I pushed the “3” button and waited for the doors to close. Leaning back against the wall of the elevator, I folded my arms across my chest.

“You know if you didn’t look like you wanted to kill anyone who talked to you, people might respond better to you,” Ash said. He was staring straight ahead but looking at me through the reflection of the doors.

“I don’t get paid to make friends,” I snapped. Being around him put me on edge—he seemed nice enough, but my instincts told me he was trouble. I had learned at a young age not to trust vampires.

When the elevator stopped, and the doors opened, I was hit with an intense wave of power. It wasn’t a ward or a spell. It was just raw magic vibrating through the halls. I saw Ash stiffen, and I knew he felt it too.

I walked into the hallway and made my way toward number 17, Donovan’s apartment. The magic was so thick, I could feel in running across my skin. Whoever was working the magic this was strong, but I could tell they had no control over it.

I looked back at Ash. He was still moving behind me, but I could see his eyes had changed to the dark red of a royal. I shivered and hoped he could control himself.

I stopped in front of Donovan’s door. I once again looked to Ash.

“Knock or just go in?” I asked. If I had been alone, I wouldn’t have asked. My curiosity would drive me to check out the apartment and seek for source of the magic. But while I was willing to put myself at risk, I couldn’t do that to Ash., at least not without his okay. 

“Go in.” His voice was deep and rough. It made my instincts scream danger.

I twisted the handle and was a little surprised that the door was unlocked. I pushed it open and screamed.

Donovan was in the middle of the room, covered in blood and it appeared that he had been ripped apart. Bits of his stomach and intestines lay on the floor next to his body, and his face looked like it has been mangled by a wild animal. And I was pretty sure he was missing an eye.

I closed my eyes and covered my mouth. I didn’t want to throw up, but my stomach had other ideas. I rushed to the kitchen and lost all the pizza I had eaten into the sink. I turned on the water and rinsed my mouth out. I wiped the handles off, took a deep breath and moved back into the main room.

Ash was standing close to the body, studying it. I supposed he would be fine, and I let him do his thing while I went to investigate the bedroom.

The guy’s bedroom was a disaster. It looked like someone had already been in here looking for something. The furniture has been tossed around, and his drawers were all pulled out from his dresser. It seemed most of his clothes and belongings were scattered throughout the room.

I made my way through, moving things around with magic; no way in hell was I leaving my fingerprints in here.

I was kneeling on the ground looking over a book that had been torn in two when I heard a low growl behind me.

I glanced over my shoulder at what I assumed was the closet to see a lower demon in the form of a misshapen animal. The body looked similar to a dog, but its face and claws were gnarly and far too beastly for any pet.  It kind of looked like someone had breed rottweiler with a pug but the teeth and claws were much to massive.

“Don’t move!” Ash whispered from the door to my right.

 _Yeah, like I need you to tell me that_ , I wanted to say back. I really wanted to smack myself—the magic we had felt in the hall wasn’t someone losing control of a spell, but someone summoning a lower demon and letting it loose. I should have known better, all the talk about demons today, but I had never summoned one or been around when some else had. I didn’t know what it felt like.

I kept my eyes on the demon as I tried to remember everything, I had ever learned about them. I wanted to summon my power to protect myself, but Tyler had felt it when I had earlier. Could a lower demon too?  I knew demons were physically stronger and faster than most. Only vampires and shifters could equal them. But as a witch, my strength and speed were about the same as a human, unless magically enhanced, which I wasn’t. So, I knew this thing could easily catch me if I tried to run.

Suddenly the demon’s attention went from me to Ash. He must have done something, because the demon suddenly focused on him. It didn’t attack. It just lowered its head and growled.

The growl held power in it, and suddenly I felt as if my whole body was hit with a shot of adrenaline. It coursed through me. My whole body wanted to run. It _needed_ to run. I clenched my jaw and used all my control to keep my body still. It hurt. It was like my own body was fighting against me.

I must have made noise, because the demon’s focus was back on me.

 _Ooh gods, I have to move_ , I thought.

“Don’t.”

I would have jumped if Ash’s arms hadn’t wrapped around my waist holding me still. I hadn’t heard him move but he must have slowly been making his way toward me. That most have been why the demon was watching him.

“I know you want to move, but you can’t. This demon is only going to attack if we run.” His arms got tighter. I felt my body starting to shake. The little bit of control I had was fading and fading fast.

“I can’t,” I whispered back while staring at the demon. It didn’t seem to notice or care about our conversation.

“That growl, it did something. If I don’t move soon—” I gasped— “I don’t know, what will happen but, oh shit, it hurts.” I took in a couple quick breaths. “It’s like my body isn’t completely under my control. Part of it is trying to stay still while the other part wants to run.” I said run, but it came out with a sob. I hadn’t realized I had started to cry until I felt the tears rolling down my face. The struggle my body was going through made it feel like I was being pulled apart, and it _fucking_ hurt.

“Can you trust me?” Ash whispered into my ear. I nodded, yes. I knew I had to. He was the only chance I had of getting out of here alive.

“Good. Look at me.” I really didn’t want too; I wanted to keep my eyes on the demon. I heard him sigh.

“Trust me,” he commanded.

I turned my head away from creature and toward Ash. His eyes were still their royal red. “Shhh, it’s okay. I have you,” he told me, and there was something about his voice. It was soothing, made me relax, and my whole body stopped moving.  I fell back against him and the pain receded. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I remembered powerful vampires had the ability to control people. Compulsion, I was sure it was called. That must have been what he was doing.  I felt his arms loosen and he pushed me off and laid me against the dresser next to us.

I held his gaze; it was like I couldn’t pull my eyes away as he spoke to me. “I’m going to gets its attention, you are going to run to my car, the keys are in it, go back to your office and wait for me.” I wanted to protest—I _tried_ to protest—but all I could force out was a grunt.

I wasn’t the type of person to leave someone alone, to leave someone in danger. But as much as I wanted to tell him no, I felt my head nod. I was still under his control and I would do what he said.

 _Fucker_ , I thought.

He waited until I nodded to let me move again, though I still didn’t feel like I was in total control. Then his attention turned to the demon. I heard him growl and lunge toward it. The second he did so, I jumped to my feet and ran. I could hear the fight behind me, and no matter how hard I told my body to stop, to go back and help, it just kept moving.

I made my way down the stairs and into his car. I cursed as I got in and started to drive away. I felt so horrible leaving him there, and I was beyond mad that he had made me do it.

 

 


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

_I had stood at the end of a large stone table looking over the people that had been seated around it; I remember, even now, that they all looked as tired and worn as I had felt. It had been the first time in over a century that the Vampire Royals and the Witch council had been in the same room. I remember the tension and my hope that the meeting would bring an end to the bloodiest war me and my people had ever experienced._

_-_ _Journal of Darius (1,510)_

 

 “Fucking vampires!” I screamed as I slammed my office door shut behind me. I felt the Compulsion ripple as I walked into the building, like it knew I had completed what was ordered. It was a weird sensation that I hoped I would never feel again. As I turned to hang up my coat, I saw someone sitting at my desk.

 _You’ve got to be kidding me_ , I thought. This day was seriously starting to piss me off.

The man wasn’t young, but he wasn’t old either— my best guess was early thirties. He was in decent shape, and his clothes weren’t expensive, but not cheap, either. His hair was short, barely long enough to run his fingers through. Probably to keep it easy to manage. I pegged him for a cop.

 “Can I help you?” I asked, approaching my desk.

The man raised his head at me and tilted it to the side. His smile made me want to hit him. I felt his eyes wonder over me, taking in everything from my calf-high boots to the irritated look on my face. The same thing I had just done to him. So, yep, a cop. _Great._

“Do you treat all your potential customers this way, Miss Mathis?” the man said, not moving from my chair.

“I’m closed.” I turned around and opened the door, hoping he would take the hint and get the hell out.

He didn’t, and instead he crossed his arms over his chest, completely ignoring the open door and started to talk.

“I’m afraid this is rather important, Miss Mathis, and it can’t wait,” he said. “I did try to get a hold of you earlier, but you weren’t in. I even swung by and left you a letter.”

 _Shit, the letter_ , I thought. _I totally forgot about it._

 But it seems you haven’t had a chance to read it yet.” He was calm and didn’t seem fazed at my anger or my attempts to make him leave. I wanted to pout at him. I wanted him out. I was at the edge of my temper and I couldn’t get Donovan’s disfigured face out of my head. I wanted a few moments alone to try process everything and get myself centered.

I let out a frustrated sigh and slammed my door closed again.

“I’m not getting rid of you, am I?” I asked, walking past him to my fridge.

“No, Ma’am,” he answered politely.

I opened the fridge, hoping that maybe if I ignored him, he would leave. The smell of pizza hit me, and I felt my stomach flop. I took a step back and rested my head against the freezer and took a couple deep breaths to try and block the images of Donovan on his apartment floor. When my stomach settled, I grabbed a bottle of water and closed the fridge. I didn’t bother offering him one—he was, after all, uninvited.  When I turned around, he was still staring at me. He hadn’t said a word or even moved while I was at the fridge.

I felt a burst of annoyance. “Fine! What the hell do you want?”

The bastard smiled and pulled out a folder. He opened it and tipped it upside down, and a few pictures fell onto my desk. I couldn’t really make them out from where I was standing, so I ignored them and looked at him.

“My name is Howard. I am a detective here in the city,” he said, finally introducing himself. “These pictures are from four different crime scenes over the last week and a half. I do not think the killer is human. As one of the few that know about the scarier things that are out there, I’m sure it is something supernatural. That means the cops at my precinct have no idea how to find this thing or what to do if they come up against it. I’m hoping you can be of assistance.” He picked up the pictures, shuffled them together, and handed them to me. 

I should have known it wasn’t a good idea to look, it was just the kind of day. I took a quick glimpse at the first photo and couldn’t stop my stomach from trying to get rid of everything left in it. I jumped to my feet and barely made it to my trash can before I lost what was left of my pizza and the little bit of water I had just drank.

“I should have warned you first. I apologize,” he said.

Gods, I wanted to punch this guy. It took a while for my stomach to give up. I sat down on the floor with my back to the wall and the trash can on my side. I sat facing the detective; he looked like he felt sorry for me.

 _If he thinks I threw up ‘cuz of the pictures, the bastard has no idea_ , I thought.

 “All right. Tell me what you know about them,” I said pointing to the pile of pictures I had dropped on my desk.

“The first victim is Shelly Patterson. 23, single, lived alone, hadn’t talked to her parents in a number of years, couldn’t keep a job,” he said, pointing to the first photo. “And, as far as I could find, no enemies. She was killed in her apartment. A neighbor found her.”

“Second, we have James Jackson, 19. Lived at the local college dorms and studied ancient literature,” Howard continued, now pointing at the next photo in line.  “Single, roommate says he was a nice guy but kept to himself and practically lived in the library. His roommate came home from class and found him like this.” It didn't seem to matter that I couldn't see them.  

“Third, we have Luke Mitchell, 28,” Howard said, again moving along to another crime scene picture. “Went to the same college as James, but as far as I can find, they didn’t have any classes together and had never met. Mitchell was studying history and was month away from graduating with honors. His girlfriend said he was a great guy.  Outgoing, a people person that went out with friends on weekends. The girlfriend was out of town when he was killed, and Mitchell’s brother had found him. He went over after not hearing from him for a few days.” He then fiddled with the last picture and looked at me while he spoke. 

“Last, we have an unknown male, He was the only one not found where they lived. We picked him up in an alley yesterday. No wallet, no phone, nothing we could use to ID. We are still waiting to see if we can get anything from his prints.”

Once he finished talking, he turned his attention on me and seemed to be waiting for my reaction.

While he told me about each of the victims, I thought about Donovan. It seemed him and these victims were killed in the same way. My first thought was that it had to be the same demon. But only Donovan seemed to be a demon junkie.

 “Were any of the victims not human?” I asked, not looking at him.

“As far as I know, all human.” I heard my chair squeak and looked up. He was standing in front of me, holding my bottle of water out.  I took it and stood up, walking to the sink to my mouth. I chugged the rest of the water before turning to grab another on from the fridge.

“Thanks,” I said as I sat down my chair. This time he took a seat on the other side. He slowly picked up the pictures and placed them back in the folder.

“Leave them. I will look at them later.” I sighed. I wasn’t going to be sleeping tonight. I pulled out my notebook from the desk and started to jot down notes from what he told me.

“You said they were all nice people with no enemies? Normal, young adults no signs of trouble or that they were into the supernatural?” I glanced up at him before returning my attention to my notebook. “Is there any chance that it’s just the families trying not to think bad about their loved ones? Or hiding things that might leave a bad impression?” I finished asking, placing the pen down and giving him my full attention.

“No, none had a criminal record. No complaints filed about them, at their schools or work. I couldn’t find anything that said they were bad people.” He was leaning towards to me and seemed happy that I was taking the case. He must really need help with this case to come to a Private Investigator. We don’t really have a good reputation with the local boys. “I also didn’t find anything in any of their homes that hinted at supernatural beliefs,” he continued.

I knew this was a bad idea, but after seeing Donovan and knowing there were four other victims that had been ripped apart like him, I had to do something.

“Do you know if any of them have ever been to Malevolence?” I asked, watching the detective’s face. He said he knew about all the things out there, so I was curious if he knew of the club.

“That’s the club on 10th right? I’ve heard it’s a bad place to be,” he answered. “That it caters to non-humans or humans that get involved with the supernatural. We have gotten some reports about people going missing from there but could never prove it. Why would you think they would go there?” He was studying me now. I hate cops. This one was much smart then he appeared.

“It’s a demon club,” I said. “And sometimes humans wander in and learn things they shouldn’t. A demon—” I pointed to the folder on the desk— “Could easily do that. A witch would use magic, and you’d never find any evidence. A vampire would drain them, snap their neck, or make them forget—if they were strong enough. There aren’t many shifters in the city, but they tend to go for the throat instead of the stomach. There are other creatures out there that are capable of doing this, but demons are notorious for killing with this of level of violence.

I yawned, feeling tired, after a long day, and was ready to go to bed   


“Okay, I’ll look into this and see if I can find anything useful. If it’s something not human, I’ll take it to someone who can stop it. If by some fucked up chances it _is_ human, I’ll give you whatever I find and let you handle it. You can pay me, right?”

I know it was fucked up to ask but I’m out of food and my rents due. I didn’t feel bad about asking, but I wanted him to think I did. Maybe if he thought I felt guilty about taking money for the case he would stop looking at me like that. 

“Yes, I can pay. And thank you. Please keep me in the loop as you go.”

He got up from his chair. I went to stand, and he waved his hand at me. “I showed myself in. I can show myself out.” I gave him a nod and with that he left.

I looked at the folder and the letter after he left and groaned. I put the letter in the folder, and then quickly scribbled down everything I knew about Donovan and added my notes to the folder. I held it between my arm and body and grabbed my keys.

 _Time to go home_ , I thought. _Finally!_ Damn, even my inner voice sounded tired.

I opened the door and went to walk out, but my body suddenly stopped. I couldn’t get it to move forward. After trying a couple times, I took a step back. It worked.

“You have got to be fucking kidding me,” I muttered, and closed my eyes, recalling what Ash had compelled me to do. 

_“Go back to your office and wait for me.”_

 “Oh, come on!” I yelled and slammed the door closed. All I wanted was to go home and sleep.  

 _That Asshole better get here soon_.

I sat down at my desk and pulled out the laptop I kept in the bottom drawer. Turning it on, I pulled up Malevolence’s website. I scanned though the contact information looking for Tyler’s office number. For some reason, he wasn’t listed. But I did see a number for Emelia, so, I called hers.

It rang once before she picked up.

“Emelia Everest! How can I help you?” _Wow, she sounded so sweet on the phone_.

“Hello Emelia, this is Alex from earlier.  I was hoping you could give me Tyler’s number? I have a couple of questions for him.” I tried to sound as nice as I could, but I was tired and angry.

“Well hello, witch.”

I groaned.

 “And what do you need to ask Ty?” She still hadn’t lost that sweet tone in her voice.

“It’s something we talked about earlier. It’s confidential.” I heard her huff and I rolled my eyes. She sounded like a jealous girlfriend. 

“I’ll tell him you called. Give me your number.”

I did, and she hung up without a goodbye. I looked at the clock: 9:34 pm. Tyler was probably busy with stuff at the club at this hour.

So, I went back to my computer and started searching for each victim. Anything I could find—blogs, social media profiles, anything that might give me any insight into how they got mixed up with demons.

Two hours later, I was ready to kill someone. And by someone, I meant Ash. The damn vampire still hadn’t shown up, my head was killing me, and my body was sore. I was frustrated and wanted to lay down and give everything a break.

As time went by, I started picturing different ways I could kill Ash. I knew he wasn’t dead, because every so often I would get bored and try to leave, but I still couldn’t. If the Prince died, the Compulsion would wear off.

I spent most of the time looking into what appeared to be three of the most boring people in the history of mankind. I couldn’t find a damn thing that pointed to demons. I hoped when Detective Howard figured out who the latest victim was that he was more interesting.

I was debating trying to take a nap on my floor when my phone started ringing. I jumped across the desk and answered it.

“Ash?” I hoped.

 “It’s Tyler, dear,” I could hear his smile. “Sorry to disappoint, I am curious on why you’re expecting a call from the vampire Prince.”

“Forget it. Any chance you could leave the club and come to my office for a little? I need some help with something I think is demon related and, well, you’re kinda the only demon I know.” I sat back down holding the phone to my ear.

“It would be easier if you came here.” He sounded like he didn’t mind helping, which was good, but me going there wasn’t exactly possible.

 “Can’t.” I sighed into the phone.

“And why not?” he asked, sounding way too curious.

I wasn’t sure I should tell him, but if I wanted him to come to me, he had to know why.

“I have been… Compelled to stay,” I finally blurted out.

He laughed; it was so loud that I had to pull the phone away from my ear until I heard him stop. A look of annoyance crossed my face as I glared at the phone, knowing full well he couldn’t feel it from all the way over there.

“Not funny,” I said, pausing to blow out an exasperated sigh “I’m tired, hungry, sore, and really want to be home. But I’m stuck here. Until that asshole comes and undoes this. So please can you come and help me or _not_?” My tone was harsh, and I felt bad taking my anger out on him, but he was the only target I had at the moment.

“Easy, I meant nothing by it. Give me your address and I’ll come to you,” Said in a sweet voice. He was flirting again. I rolled my eyes and told him where my office was.

“Got it. Be there soon, dear. Bye.” He said casually before hanging up.

I sat back and went over my day in my head. When I got back to Tyler coming, I wanted to tell myself how stupid of an idea that was. Demons are dangerous, and here I was—trapped and inviting one over. Not only that, but I had been stupid enough to _tell_ him I was trapped. I was too drained to be doing this.

I grumbled and dropped my head into my hands. Looking back to my computer, I had a crazy number of tabs pulled up of everything I could find on the victims, but nothing useful. My hand went to the folder I had put back in the desk. Did I really want to look at them right now? …No, not really. I retracted my hand.

I looked at the clock. It was almost midnight. I hadn’t eaten much during the day and what I did eat hadn’t stayed down. Maybe when Tyler got here, I would order something. Finally giving up on trying to figure anything out until Tyler got here, I started playing some country music. Then I laid my head down on my desk and tried to get some sleep.

I hovered on the edge of sleep when I heard the door open. I jumped up, praying it was Ash, but was greeted to the smell of fast food and Tyler’s smile. I groaned, and then had to laugh at the pout on his face.

“Sorry,” I started, “it’s not that I’m not happy you’re here.”

He cut me off, “but you were hoping I was vampire boy. It’s okay, I get it.” I smiled and noticed while his one hand had food, his other held what a duffle bag.

“What’s that?” I asked, cleaning off my desk to make room for the food.

He grinned and tossed the duffle bag at me.

I sat it down on my desk and opened it. There was a pillow, a couple small blankets and a pair of men’s pajamas. They were probably his, and would absolutely be way too big for me, but hey, at least they would be comfy.

“You said you were tired but stuck here, so I figured you might want something to sleep in. And on.” He looked around the room. “Though I had assumed you had a couch here or something.” He sounded apologetic.

“This is great, really. I don’t mind sleeping on the floor. Thank you.” I smiled and felt better than I had in hours. Tyler had just met me but was nice enough to bring me stuff I might have needed even if I hadn’t asked for it. It made this shitty day a little better.

 He placed the food on the desk and started pulling out burgers and fries. I went to the fridge. “Coke, Dr. Pepper, or water?”

“Coke’s good.” When I turned around, I saw he’d taken a seat opposite my desk. I handed him the soda and sat down. The food smelled and looked great, but I wasn’t sure I wanted to test my stomach just yet.

“You okay?” he inquired, noticing me staring at the cheeseburger.

I looked up at him and shook my head. “Not really. It’s been a hell of a day.”

I picked up the burger and, as I ate, I told him everything that happened after I left Malevolence. I left out that it was Ash’s necklace I was looking for and simply told him Ash had been with me at the apartment. I then told him about the detective and the other victims and pushed the folder towards him.

As I finished my burger and fries, he looked over the pictures.

When he sat them down and looked at me, I asked him if he had any ideas.

“From what you described and the way they were all killed, it was definitely the same demon that killed everyone here and Donovan,” Tyler explained. “From the fear you felt when the demon inside Donovan’s apartment growled, you ran into a lower Deimos demon. Or what humans would call a terror demon. Not a fun group to run into, for sure.  Fear demons feed on the fear they cause in people. Thankfully you didn’t cave, because you’d probably end up like our friend Donovan, or one of these guys here.”

He paused and took a deep breath.

“But…I have a feeling it’s not that simple.  I don’t recognize any of these victims from the club, but there are other places to learn about us demons. Tell you what, I’ll ask around to see if anyone has heard of any idiots summoning lower demons. For now, you need to get some rest.”

He stood up and walked around the desk. “I’ll come back over tomorrow to check on you. Hopefully your vampire will have made it back by then. But if not, maybe I can find something to break his Compulsion.” As he walked toward me, he had his usual grin on, it gave me an uneasy feeling, but before I could react or ask what the hell he was doing, his hand was on my forehead and the world went black.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

_This war continues. I met a witch the other day—the last of her line. When she was gone, and I was alone, I cried. An entire magical line…gone. Gifts that will never be passed along to future generations. How many more will we lose?_

_Journal of Elizabeth (1501)_

 

The sound of a door opening brought me to consciousness. I groaned and rolled over, trying to fall back asleep. It only took a fraction of a second for the previous day’s events to run through my head, reminding me that I wasn’t at home and that I had no idea who just walked in. I ripped the blanket off me and leapt to my feet. I stumbled but was caught by strong arms and a chuckle.

I relaxed when I recognized that sound. “Tyler, I’m seriously going to punch you one of these days.” I pushed myself away and glared up at him.

“First, what the hell did you do to me last night? And, second what time is it?”  I knew I sounded pissed, but honestly, I was a little grateful. Whatever he had done had put me straight to sleep, with no nightmares. I felt relaxed and well-rested.

“Just a little magic to make you sleep. Hey, don’t give me that look, you needed it,” he said with not guilt what so ever. “Oh, and it’s noon.”

“Guess I’m not opening today,” I said with a groan. “Any news on the victims or Ash?” I sighed and dropped onto the blankets Tyler had made into a bed. My gratitude wavered as I realized I was in the pajama pants he had brought yesterday—I knew I hadn’t changed. I debated yelling at him.

“No and no. I can’t find anyone who knew your victims or anyone that had heard anything about people summoning lower demons,” he said, “and as for Ash… he hasn’t been seen since yesterday.”

Tyler sat down next to me and handed me a burrito. I hadn’t noticed he brought food, and my need to yell about the pants went away as I took the first bite.

As I ate, I tried to think if I had ever heard of anything breaking Compulsion other than the vampire undoing it or dying. My mind came up empty.

“Can you get me out of here?” I asked in-between bites.

“I asked about that too. Emelia said to make you drink this,” he said, handing me a thermos. “She swears it will break the Compulsion, but that it will probably make you sick. Or give you a raging hangover.” I took the thermos from him and opened it, taking a sniff. I gagged. It smelled horrible.

“What the hell is in this?” I demanded, pushing the thermos back toward him. He grinned but didn’t take it back. Instead, he stood up and walked over to my desk and began to open a plastic shopping bag. I hadn’t noticed it until now.

“No idea,” he said. “I wasn’t sure you would drink it, so I brought you some stuff. Toothbrush, toothpaste, some soap and hair stuff… think you can wash your hair in the sink?”

I knew he was trying to point out that I was stuck here with nothing, and until Ash showed up, him and that gross drink were my only hope. I eyed the thermos again, finished my burrito and stood up.

“I’ll give him a few more hours,” I told him. “Maybe he got hurt and needs time to rest.” I grabbed the bag from Tyler and brought it to my tiny kitchen sink. Rolling my eyes, I took out the toothbrush and paste and started brushing. It was weird how easily me and this demon got along. I had known him a couple of days, but I trusted him enough to not to question the small things he did for me. He must have felt similar—why else bother helping me in the first place? Then again, he _was_ a demon. And they do love their tricks and games.

When I was done, I sat down behind my desk, leaving the thermos on the floor.

“Did she tell you anything about it?” I asked. “And why it’s supposed to break the Compulsion?”

“She didn’t really say anything,” Tyler answered. “But she did call you a stupid little witch for getting mixed up with vampires and said this will work, but you won’t like it.”

            “Great.” I said.

 “Anyway, I have some stuff to do, so I’m heading out,” Tyler said, standing up and looking at me. “You need anything?”

I had a few questions, but the main one was just…why. It had bugged me the whole time we talked the day before, and it was really bugging me now—why were he and Emelia being so nice to me? It went against everything I has been taught about demons. It made me feel like I was missing something or that I was getting ready to walk in to a trap. He seemed sincere enough, but I couldn’t tell.

“No, I’m good. Thank you,” I answered. I watched him turn around and leave.

I sighed after he shut the door behind him. I needed someone else’s opinion about the drink. I stared at my phone—, I knew one person who could possibly help me, but we hadn’t talked in a few years. and I wasn’t sure he would take my call, let alone drive over and help me. Frustrated, I got up and started pacing.

I made it an hour, were I went from pacing to playing on my computer before I gave in and picked up the phone. I called Pete’s work phone first, hoping that he was in. I let it ring a few times before hanging up. _Damn it_ , I thought. I really didn’t want to, but I sucked it up and dialed his old cell number.

It only rang twice before someone answered.

“Hello?” a female voice answered. _Shit, he has a new number_ , I thought,

“Umm, hi… I was trying to reach Pete?” I asked.

“He is in the shower. Who is this?” She sounded unhappy. I guess I wouldn’t be too happy about another girl calling my boyfriend, either. Rolling my eyes, I said, “My name is Alex. I’m an old friend. Can you please see if he will take the phone?”

“Do you want to leave a message?” She obviously wasn’t thrilled about a woman calling for her boyfriend.

  _Wow Pete, you taste in lovers has gone to shit_ , I thought.

“Can you please give him the phone, it’s urgent. I need his help.” She didn’t respond, but I could hear voices in the background. And then the sound of a door slamming.  

 “Hello?” Pete’s voice came through the phone. It made me smile—I’d forgotten how much I missed him. It made me feel guilty that I hadn’t tried to fix our old friendship, and that I was only calling because I need something from him.

“Hey, Pete.” I replied.

“ _Lex_?” He sounded shocked. His girlfriend must not have told him who was calling.

“Yeah, it’s me.” I said sounding slightly assumed.  

“Wow. I haven’t heard from you in what, three years? Why the hell are you calling now?” He sounded pissed, I guess he had every right to be. For a moment I let my eyes fall on the thermos and debated hanging up and just drinking it. I must have spaced out—I came to my senses when he started shouting my name to get my attention.

“Sorry, I was thinking. I’m in a bit of a tight spot, Pete,” I said, and a deep breath followed. “I’m calling ‘cause I’m in trouble and you are the only person I could think of that I trust enough to help.” My voice sounded so small, even to me. I knew I was begging, and I prayed he was still the same guy and wouldn’t let me down.

“Seriously, three years and you call because you need something?” the anger seemed to die down, and he began to laugh. “Fine, fine. What’s going on?” The relief brought by that one simple question was amazing.

“You remember where my office is, right? Can you come here, and I’ll tell you everything?”

“Yeah, be there in twenty. Bye.” He said hanging up on me.

Afterwards I started straightening up my office. I was nervous to see him, and cleaning gave me a way to work off the extra energy.  I picked up the pillow and blankets, folded them and threw them on the floor behind my desk. Next, I wiped down my small kitchen area. I saved the bathroom for last. It wasn’t dirty, but I pulled out my cleaning supplies and got to work. It helped clear my mind and gave me something to do for a little while.

While cleaning the bathroom, I took a look in the mirror, I needed a shower.  I looked around the small room and wished that I had spent the extra money on an office with a full bathroom instead of just a toilet and sink. Even though I couldn’t take a shower, I wanted to freshen up a little, so I settled on using a washcloth and cleaned off as much as I could. When I was done, I pulled my auburn hair into a ponytail and changed out of Tyler’s pajama pants. I had found another pair in the bottom of the bag he brought, they were dark blue and plaid and not the least bit appropriate for work, but they were clean and that’s all I cared about.

Pete would be here soon, so I returned to my desk and started looking back over the profiles on the three victims. But I still found nothing that would help the case. So, I picked up the folder the detective left behind and took a deep breath; I had put off looking at the pictures long enough.

The first picture was of Shelly. Lying on her floor next to her couch, her head was bent back at the wrong angle, looking like her neck had been snapped. Like Donovan, most of her insides had been ripped out, and the demon left the pieces next to her body. It didn’t appear to be eating any part of the victims—just tearing them apart. I studied her face, and unlike Donovan’s, hers was in-tact with no claw marks. She just looked scared.

I put her picture down and went to pull out the next one when there was a knock at my door. It had to be Pete. I nervously approached the door and slowly pulled it open.

I didn’t say anything and just looked him over. Pete hadn’t changed much over the last few years, aside from his hair being shorter, cut close to his head. He was still be a great shape, too. Though he never could build much muscle, he always kept up with working out. He was wearing the same old plain clothes. I had tried for years to get him to experiment with different styles, but he always stayed with jeans and t-shirts.

He gave me a moment to take him in, and then pushed past me into the office and sat down on my desk.

“Pushy,” I muttered as I followed behind him.

“You took too long to invite me in.” Though he said it without laughing I could see he was joking by his eyes. “What am I doing here, Lex?”

I gestured to the two empty chairs. He sighed as he slid off my desk a dropped into one of the chairs. I took the other, moving it slightly to face him. Then I told him everything from Ash to Tyler, Donovan…everything.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

_My love, I fear my husband had become suspicious of me. He knows I carry no love for him, and he has begun to watch me more closely. We may not be able to be together for a while. I must let his suspicions fade away._

_Yours always, E._

_Letter found to unnamed lover (1502)_

“Shit, Lex,” was all he could muster for a second. “How the hell do you get yourself in things like this? First a vampire, and not just an everyday vampire! The fucking King’s heir? You should know better. Then you get involved with demon? Don’t for a second think that this Tyler is your friend. He will want something.” He wasn’t shouting, but he was close. It made me wince.

“I thought you learned years ago that vampires were bad news.” He continued to berate me. My stomach dropped at the reminder of things better left forgotten. I glared at him. He seemed to understand that I wanted nothing to do with that topic and stopped talking.

Pete looked over at the thermos Tyler left behind. He sighed and got out of his chair, walked over to it, and picked it up. Once he had the lid off, he made the same face I did,

“Wow, that does stink,” he said, sounding a little amused.

He took a coffee mug from by my sink and poured some of the contents of the thermos into it. I watched him look at it, smell it again, and then he placed his hand over the top and started muttering something. I couldn’t hear the words, but his hand took on a slight glow, and I shivered as the feel of his magic filled the room.

Pete had always been powerful; he was the one that taught me a number of the bigger spells I knew. I missed being able to go to him for advice or help. His lessons weren’t always pleasurable but were effective. Watching him now, I knew I had made the right call in asking him for help. I just wished I had talked to him sooner.

He finished his muttering and his hand stopped glowing and poured more of the liquid into the mug. As he walked over to me, the smirk on his face told me everything I needed to know. It would work, but it would be horrible for me and he was going to enjoy watching me suffer.

 _Bastard_ , I thought as I took the mug from him.

Glancing at it, I gagged at the smell again. “All of it?” I asked, dreading the answer

“Yep, and you may want to lay down for it. Probably by a trash can or bucket,” he said with a grin. He was enjoying this, and I hadn’t even drank the shit yet.

I stood up, placed the mug on my desk, and then walked behind it to pick up the blankets. I made a small bed against the wall next to my trash can. Once I was finished, I took the cup and looked at it for a moment, inhaling one last big breath. I drank it down as fast as I could.

The next hour was one of the worst I had ever experienced. Maybe even up there with facing that demon. I rotated between laying on my side holding my head; and throwing up. My entire body felt miserable and I knew I was going to be sore the next day.

Pete stayed by me the whole time, keeping my hair out of the way and placing cold cloths on my forehead. He kept shoving water into me, no matter how useless I told him it was. My body just forced it back up after I drank it.

Finally, the pain and nausea faded, and all I wanted to do was sleep.

Unfortunately, I had things that needed to be done. So, instead, I locked myself in the bathroom for a few minutes, cleaning myself up and brushing my teeth. Now I was especially thankful for Tyler’s toothbrush.

I left the bathroom to see Pete cleaning up the mess I had made. He had put the thermos next to the sink. I picked it up and noticed it was still more than half full.

Pete must have saw me because I heard him start laughing.

“Whatever demon made that must have known you were too stupid to stay away from vampires, so there is enough in there for at least two more goes,” he said. “Luckily for you, it will stay for a few months if you keep it in the fridge.” I rolled my eyes at him, making sure he saw me.

“She’s right, though, isn’t she?” He sounded aggravated. “You’re still going to help this vampire and try to figure out what happened to those people?” He slammed the trash can down on my counter.

“Idiot. You’re an idiot…” he started mumbling under his breath.

“They were ripped apart, Pete. They were good people, and someone sent a demon after them. How can I not try and help? If I don’t, then the next dead body is on me!” I was yelling but I didn’t care.

We were facing each other, so neither of us heard the door open. At the end of my rant, a throat cleared behind me.

“What!” I yelled as I swung around. When I took in the three men standing in front of me, I was speechless. Even Pete had fallen silent. _No fucking way_ , I thought.

The man in the middle had a feel about him that demanded attention. If I thought Ash screamed danger, it was nothing compared to his father. He wasn’t tall but standing in front of him, I felt small. He had similar features to Ash, though his hair was much shorter, and his eyes appeared to be a light blue while Ash’s were grey.

I took me a second to find my voice. “I-I’m sorry, sir. I’m having a bad day,” I managed to stutter out. “I didn’t mean to yell at you.” I lowered my head in a slight bow, hoping he would accept my apology. When I rose my head back up, I noticed one of his guards had his hand in front of his mouth and was trying not to laugh while the other looked like he wanted to kill me on the spot for disrespecting his king.

“It’s quite all right. We seemed to have interrupted something,” The king stated, sounding like he was both asking a question and making a statement. Realizing we were all just standing in the middle of the room staring at each other, I backed up to my desk, never fully turning my back to the vampires.

“Please, Sir, have a seat,” I nodded to the chairs across from me. “Can I ask what you are doing here? And how I can help you?” I was curious how they knew about me. First the Prince shows up here and now the King. Whoever was giving out my information, I wanted to talk to. While I wanted and needed new clients, I wasn’t too happy with such powerful and dangerous people showing up. I felt Pete move to stand behind me. It made me feel safer, knowing that if anything happened, he would have my back.

His stance didn’t go unnoticed by the guards. They both studied him. Neither of them made a move but I could tell they were ready for a fight if one came.

“I am here,” he paused, looking around. His tone sounded pleasant enough, but I could make out an irritated tone, like he felt he was somewhere gross or beneath him. “Because my son came home last night, half-dead. And all we could find on him was your business card.” The pleasant tone was gone, now it was accusatory.

His tone sent a shudder down my spine. I could feel my heartbeat speed up. I wasn’t stupid, no matter what Pete or Tyler said. I knew this man could kill me. Probably fast enough that neither me nor Pete could try and stop him. I took a calming breath and focused on the fact that Ash was alive. In bad shape but alive.

“Your son hired me to find someone,” I said, knowing I had to speak carefully. I wouldn’t lie, but Ash paid me so his father wouldn’t know about the necklace, and I would keep my client’s secret. “He was here yesterday. He was well enough when I last saw him.” I danced around the truth.

“And who did my son have you looking for?” He didn’t sound like he believed me.

“A young man. I’m sorry, Sir, but I am paid to keep my clients’ information classified.” I was proud of myself for keeping my tone even, despite the fear I felt. As I watched the King, waiting to see if he was going to threating or attack me, I felt Pete place his hand on my shoulder and squeeze. He was trying to tell me to stop being stupid and tell them what they wanted to know.

Instead of the King reacting, it was one of his guards that spoke up, “Listen, ma’am, the Prince isn’t doing well, and whatever attacked him was strong. He was lucky to have made it home. We need to know where he was and what he was doing so that we can find and kill whoever, or whatever, it was.” I looked up at the guard—it was the one that had laughed earlier. He seemed more relaxed than his partner and, he spoke to me without sounding condescending or angry.

Not knowing what to say to him, I settled on just part of the story. “I understand. Your son hired me to find a young man. When I found his address, I called your son and he insisted on coming with me. When we arrived at the apartment, we found the man dead. He had been attacked. Ripped apart. The demon was still there.” My gaze went from the guard to the King. Looking him in the eye, I continued my story,

“Your son Compelled me to run. And I did. I don’t know what happened after I left. I’m sorry.” I had let my annoyance and anger about being forced to leave him behind show. Hopefully the King would see it and understand I hadn’t wanted to leave Ash to fight alone. Keeping my eye on the man in front of me, I reached into my desk and took out Ash’s car keys. I tossed them to the guard.

Behind the King, the two guards started whispering back and forth. They were making me nervous and from the grip on my shoulder, Pete as well.

“I realize he is hurt, but…how is he? Will he recover?” I interrupted their whispers.

The King looked me right in the eyes, leading us to stare at each other for what felt like minutes. The world seemed to fade into the background and all I could see were his blue eyes.

Suddenly, my shoulder was burning, and a growl steadily filled my ears. I jerked out from under Pete’s hand. Confused, I looked at Pete—he’d been the one growling at the King.

The King leapt to his feet, his eyes changed to deep red and his fangs now showed. His guards drew their long-bladed swords with vampiric script etched upon the hilts.

I realized the King had been using some kind of magic on me, and Pete had reacted. I placed myself between the him and the three vampires.

“Stop!” I shouted.

I looked at the King, this time avoiding his eyes. “Tell them to back off! You tried something, and he was protecting me.” I saw his eyes go from me to Pete. While he seemed to be deciding what to do, my head was spinning. No matter how powerful me or Pete were, taking on three vampires—one being a fucking _King_ —we would be slaughtered.

The King’s shoulders relaxed, and his eyes returned to normal. He held up his hand, gesturing for the two guards to put away their swords.

“You’re an interesting witch,” he said calmly. “You take a job from a vampire and you hang out with demons. I don’t think I have met another of your kind that would keep such company.” He sounded entertained. “I will not apologize for trying to Enthrall you. Only trying to make sure you spoke the truth.”  He seemed to be analyzing me.

“I-I told you what happened, and n-now… I-I’m asking you to leave,” I stuttered. I was shaken from what he had done, and my shoulder was in agonizing pain.

Both guards stared at me in shock. I had yelled at the King and was now telling him to get out. I felt a little bit of pride at myself for standing up to him and for shocking the other two men. The King didn’t look pleased, but he nodded and told his guards it was time to leave.

Once they closed the door behind them and I was sure they were far away, I let out a pained gasp and pulled my shirt sleeve off my shoulder. I could see the hand-shaped burn Pete had left.

“Damn, you couldn’t have, like, smacked me or something?” I turned and glared at Pete. He frowned and lowered his head.

“It wouldn’t have worked. It needed to be a lot of pain.” He kept his head down, not wanting to look at me. “It had to be enough to break his spell over you.” I knew he felt bad about hurting me, but what bothered him more was having to use his power.

The King hadn’t been _exactly_ right, when he said I was with a demon. Pete’s mother had been a witch and until he was 18, that’s what he thought he was too.

Until one night when he almost torched his whole apartment building. A very-freaked-out Pete called his mother, and she finally told him the truth—his father was a demon. She said she had been charmed by him and fell in love, but when she realized pregnant; she knew she had to run.

Half breeds don’t last long in this world. Some demons have been said to kill their own young if they were mixed. Those that live were usually targeted by other demons and killed before becoming strong enough to fight back. Pete got lucky being born to a witch instead of a human. It gave him power, a way to defend himself that a half-human wouldn’t have had.  

Despite the power his demon blood gave him, he hated it. He hid away from his heritage and, as far as I knew, still refused to learn anything about his demon side or his father.

Looking at my friend, I sighed.

“Hey, thank you,” I said. “If you hadn’t been here...” I took ahold of his chin and forced his face, so we were looking at each other.

“You saved my ass. Don’t feel guilty. Now, help me clean my shoulder off and then I have an idea for finding that necklace, and maybe, if we are lucky, the fear demon.”


End file.
